Long draft spinning cradle



Feb. 18, 1941. o. w. SCHLUMS 2,232,079

LONG DRAFT SPINNING CRADLE Filed Jan. 27, 1939 0% mv NTOR ATTORN YS Patented Feb. 18, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,232,079 7 LONG DRAFT SPINNING CRADLE Application January 27, 1939, Serial No. 253,094

7 Claims.

The invention is an improvement in long draft spinning cradles which are the frames that hold and guide the drafting belts in long draft spinning and roving systems and the object is 5 to provide a more durable and practical construction for such cradles. More particularly the invention consists in the organization of a form ofseparable attachment for uniting the parts or sections of a two-part cradle on the w principle exemplified in the accompanying drawing, though without limitation to the latter.

Fig. l is a cross section through a roll head illustrating the use of the invention;

Fig. 2 IS a side elevation of the cradle closed;

[5 Fig. 3 of the same open;

Fig. 4 a plan of the closed cradle;

Fig. 5 a plan of the bottom bearing bar;

Fig. 6 a front elevation of the closed cradle;

Fig. 7 a perspective of the front cradle section,

20 and Fig. 8 a detail illustrating the mode of separation.

The cradle taken for illustration is composed of front and back sections each of which is con- 5 stituted of a pair of side plates rigidly united by a cross member. In the front section the side plates are marked I and are rigidly united by a cross member 2 in the form of a flat-sectioned bar shouldered at its ends and riveted in square 30 holes in the side plates forming a rigid unit. This bar serves the double purpose of connecting theside plates and of forming the front support or bearing for the top belt 3. The side plates of the rear section are marked 4 and are similarly 35 rigidly united by a cross member in the form of a cross plate 5 with angled Wings 6, both the plate and its wings being firmly riveted into square holes punched in the side plates.

The front and rear sections of the cradle as 40 thus formed are separably connected to each other and are so constructed that when attached to each other they clasp about the bosses of the bottom roll I and together form a notch 8 (Fig. 2) for receiving the top roll 9 about which the top 45 belt is circled. The bottom belt l encircles the bottom roll and is supported at its front end by a bottom bearing bar Ii which is removably held in notches l2 formed in the front edge of the side plates l.

50 The separable attachment between the front and rear cradle sections, according to this invention, is entirely disposed in the planes of the respective side plates of such sections and is what might be termed an edge-formed joint or attach- 5 ment in that it is essentially produced by cutting or shaping the proximate edges of the plates .in a particular mutually interlocking contour or profile. Thismay be variously done within the invention and it is preferably done as shown in the drawing, wherein the rear side plate on 5 each side is cut or formed with a partly circular lug l3 located about midway betweenthe positions of the top and bottom rolls, and the opposing edge of the front side plate, on each side, is formed with a corresponding buttonhole slot l4, '10 or notch, to receive the lug, and therewith form a hinge. By entering the lugs edgewise into the slots l4 when the parts are widely open, as shownin Fig. 8, and then closing the sections toward each other, as indicated in Fig. 3, the round parts of the lugs become confined or locked in the slots. The two sections are thus attached to each other and so remain so long as they are in a closed or partly closed condition. This forms, as will be seen, an exceptionally strong .20 and durable, separable connection, not likely to be deranged by rough treatment. The side plates thus united edge to edge are held from disengagement by relative lateral movement by some appropriate means and preferably by the hinge extensions l5, which overlie the outer faces of the two front plates. These hinge extensions are shown as applied members spot-welded or otherwise secured to or formed on the outer faces of the rear side platesl They add a desirable thickness to the cradle at .the points where it is subject to wear by rubbing on the bosses of the draft rolls and they serve also as part of the means for locking the sections in closed position as presently described.

In the closing of the sections their lower hook-shaped extremities meet around the bottom roll so as to provide smooth and substantially continuous surfaces for guiding the edges of the bottom belt In to avoid-belt wear and, at the same time, the hinge extensions [5 swing past the notches l2 so that the bottom bearing bar i I can be inserted under them in the notches, thus snugly locking the two sections of the cradle together in closed relation. The bearing bar ll is notched or shouldered (H at one or both ends to interlock with the side plate notches and is normally retained interlocked with them by the tension of the bottom belt which must be stretched somewhat to permit the bar to be removed. This mode of locking hinged cradle sections by means of a removable belt bar and of holding the latter in position by the tension of its belt is standard practice and forms no part of the present invention except in combination with the novel features herein disclosed.

When the cradle is to be disassembled the bar II is first removed and, the top roll 9 having been lifted from its notch and slipped endwise out of the belt, the rear cradle section is swung upwards and thus unlocked from the bottom roll and then separated from the notch 14, whereupon the top belt 3 is removed from its bearing bar 2 by passing it over one of the side plates I either one of which has the appropriate size or contour to permit such removal. This method of removing the top belt, it will be seen, is rendered possible by reason of the absence of any cross bar member joining the lower portions of the 'side plates. Reassembly of the belts and cradle is done with the top belt first applied to the bar of the front section and then by connecting and clasping the sections together about the bottom roll and slipping the bottom bearing bar into position.

It may he noted that the separable attachment, according to the principle above described, is produced in the same operation that produces the side plate and that no separate hinge-forming operation is required, thus reducing by so much the cost of production besides enhancing the durability and the practicability of the device.

,: The following is claimed:

1-. A cradle as described comprising a front iaection having side plates and a rear section havlng side plates, the side plates of the rear section having projections extending in the planes of the 7 plates which engage openings in the side plates of the front section for separably holding the sections together.

. 2. A draft-belt cradle of the kind described composed of two sections each formed of side plates united by a single cross-bar element, the side plates of one of said sections being formed with projections located in the respective planes thereof and the side plates of the other having notches in the edges thereof to receive said projections and form a separable attachment between the sections with the edges of the. respective side plates thereof in registry, and means for preventing relative lateral displacement of the projections from their notches when the sections are attached.

3. A draft-belt cradle composed of separable sections having side plates with their proximate edges formed with mutually interlocking projections and notches substantially in the planes of said edges for separably holding the sections together.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 in which the interlocking portions of the side plates constitute a separable hinge.

5. The structure defined in claim 3 in which the interlocking portions form a separable hinge located between the seats for the rolls by which the cradle is supported.

6. The structure defined by claim 3 in which one of the sections is provided with means for preventing relative lateral displacement of the attached sections, and with a removable beltbearing bar which coacts with said means to prevent separation of said sections.

7; The structure defined by claim 3 in which the sections are provided with means to prevent relative lateral displacement of the interlock and in which said means afiords an addition to the thickness of the bearing surfaces of the cradle.

OTTO W. SCI-ILU'MS. 

